Research specific to Ameda products

What research has been conducted on Ameda’s products?

All of the studies that follow were conducted with Ameda breastfeeding products. The very first study on Ameda products was published in 1956 by Ameda’s founder, Swedish civil engineer Einar Egnell and appeared in the Journal of the Swedish Medical Association. This ground-breaking study set the vacuum and cycling standards still used today to judge breast pump quality.

Unlike research funded by industry, the studies featured in this section were all conducted independently and without commercial influence. Here are the Pub Med abstracts of these studies.

Study 1 provided Ameda Elite® Breast Pump to California low-income WIC population
Study 2 provided Ameda Purely Yours® Breast Pump to Canadian mothers of preterm babies for home use
Study 3 provided Ameda Purely Yours Breast Pump to low-income Boston women
Study 4 provided Ameda Elite Breast Pump to mothers with babies in a U.K. NICU
Study 5 compared Ameda (Egnell) SMB™ Breast Pump with a Medela manual pump
Study 6 compared Ameda (Egnell) SMB Breast Pump with 7 other breast pumps
Study 7 compared Ameda (Egnell) SMB Breast Pump with 2 pumps and hand expression
Study 8 compared Ameda ComfortGels (then Kendall MaterniMates) with Lansinoh

Click here to read the Rosen study (2001) of the Ameda Elite Breast Pump in U.S. NICU. This unpublished research was presented as a poster presentation at the International Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA) conference in Acapulco Mexico

Meehan K, Harrison GG, Afifi AA, Nickel N, Jenks E, Ramirez A.

Public Health Foundation Enterprises WIC Program, Irwindale, California 91706, USA. karen@phfewic.org
An electric pump loan program designed to facilitate breastfeeding for low-income mothers returning to full-time work was evaluated. All mothers were WIC participants in the Los Angeles area. Electric pump loans were made until the infant's first birthday or until the mother requested formula from WIC. Information was provided to employers on supporting breastfeeding in the workplace. A subsample of mothers who received an electric pump on return to full-time work was compared with counterparts in a wait list control group. Mothers who received an electric pump as soon as requested did not request formula until 8.8 months on average, whereas those who did not receive an electric pump requested formula on average at 4.8 months (P < .0001). Mothers who received an electric pump when requested were 5.5 (95% CI 2.0-15.1) times as likely as mothers who did not receive an electric pump to not request formula at 6 months.

PMID: 18436966 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

O'Connor DL, Khan S, Weishuhn K, Vaughan J, Jefferies A, Campbell DM, Asztalos E, Feldman M, Rovet J, Westall C, Whyte H; Postdischarge Feeding Study Group.
Collaborators (9)

Department of Clinical Dietetics, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Ave, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G 1X8. deborah_l.o'connor@sickkids.ca
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this pilot study was to determine whether mixing a multinutrient fortifier to approximately one half of the human milk fed each day for a finite period after discharge improves the nutrient intake and growth of predominantly human milk-fed low birth weight infants. We also assessed the impact of this intervention on the exclusivity of human milk feeding. METHODS: Human milk-fed (> or = 80% feeding per day) low birth weight (750-1800 g) infants (n = 39) were randomly assigned at hospital discharge to either a control or an intervention group. Infants in the control group were discharged from the hospital on unfortified human milk. Nutrient enrichment of human milk in the intervention group was achieved by mixing approximately one half of the human milk provided each day with a powdered multinutrient human milk fortifier for 12 weeks after discharge. Milk with added nutrients was estimated to contain approximately 80 kcal (336 kJ) and 2.2 g protein/100 mL plus other nutrients. Intensive lactation support was provided to both groups. RESULTS: Infants in the intervention group were longer during the study period, and those born < or = 1250 g had larger head circumferences than infants in the control group. There was a trend toward infants in the intervention group to be heavier at the end of the intervention compared with those in the control group. Mean protein, zinc, calcium, phosphorus, and vitamins A and D intakes were higher in the intervention group. CONCLUSIONS: Results from this study suggest that adding a multinutrient fortifier to approximately one half of the milk provided to predominantly human milk-fed infants for 12 weeks after hospital discharge may be an effective strategy in addressing early discharge nutrient deficits and poor growth without unduly influencing human milk feeding when intensive lactation support is provided.

PMID: 18381542 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Chamberlain LB, McMahon M, Philipp BL, Merewood A.

Breastfeeding Center, Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
An effective electric breast pump is an important tool for the management of breastfeeding challenges such as provision of human milk to sick or premature infants. A breast pump is also, in Western culture, critical for breastfeeding mothers who return to work. Obtaining an effective electric breast pump can be particularly difficult for uninsured or impoverished women because of the expense, complicated insurance reimbursements, and scarcity of providers that supply breast pumps to the inner-city community. To address this problem at Boston Medical Center (BMC), an inner-city hospital that serves a poor and minority urban population, members of the Breastfeeding Center worked with a local charity and local insurance companies to increase access to pumps for all women at BMC and to guarantee that every breastfeeding mother with an infant in the neonatal intensive care unit receive a double-setup electric breast pump, regardless of her insurance status or ability to pay.

PMID: 16467290 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Jones E, Dimmock PW, Spencer SA.

Neonatal Unit, North Staffordshire Hospital, Newcastle Rd, Stoke on Trent ST4 6QG, UK. elizabethajones@yahoo.com
OBJECTIVES: Primary: to compare sequential and simultaneous breast pumping on volume of milk expressed and its fat content. Secondary: to measure the effect of breast massage on milk volume and fat content. DESIGN: Sequential randomised controlled trial. SETTING: Neonatal intensive care unit, North Staffordshire Hospital NHS Trust. SUBJECTS: Data on 36 women were analysed; 19 women used simultaneous pumping and 17 used sequential pumping. INTERVENTIONS: Women were randomly allocated to use either simultaneous (both breasts simultaneously) or sequential (one breast then the other) milk expression. Stratification was used to ensure that the groups were balanced for parity and gestation. A crossover design was used for massage, with patients acting as their own controls. Women were randomly allocated to receive either massage or non-massage first. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Volume of milk expressed per expression and its fat content (estimated by the creamatocrit method). RESULTS: Milk yield per expression was: sequential pumping with no massage, 51.32 g (95% confidence interval (CI) 56.57 to 46.07); sequential pumping with massage, 78.71 g (95% CI 85.19 to 72.24); simultaneous pumping with no massage, 87.69 g (95% CI 96.80 to 78.57); simultaneous pumping with massage, 125.08 g (95% CI 140.43 to 109.74). The fat concentration in the milk was not affected by the increase in volume achieved by the interventions. CONCLUSIONS: The results are unequivocal and show that simultaneous pumping is more effective at producing milk than sequential pumping and that breast massage has an additive effect, improving milk production in both groups. As frequent and efficient milk removal is essential for continued production of milk, mothers of preterm infants wishing to express milk for their sick babies should be taught these techniques.

PMID: 11517200 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Boutte CA, Garza C, Fraley JK, Stuff JE, Smith EO.

Volume, fat and energy contents were measured in human milk samples collected over 2 24-h periods with either an electric or hand-operated breast pump. The energy content was significantly higher and the variance for this measurement was significantly lower in samples obtained by the electric pump. The type of pump used is an important consideration when the content of energy and other nutrients associated with the fat compartment in human milk is to be evaluated. This observation is especially pertinent to cross-study comparisons, eg studies of well- and malnourished populations.

PMID: 4093328 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Johnson CA.
Eight breast pumps commonly seen in clinical practice were measured and ranked for desirability in eight categories: pressure range, pressure control, size and shape of nipple cup, volume accommodation, visual feedback, ease of cleaning, ease of handling, and cost. Three scored relatively high (Egnell, Kaneson, and Loyd-B), three scored low (Gomco, Davol, and Bintner), and two appeared to be frequently ineffective (Evenflo and Ora'lac).

PMID: 6848288 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Green D, Moye L, Schreiner RL, Lemons JA.

In view of the current trend toward increased breast-feeding, both of normal term infants as well as sick or premature infants, a successful means for milk expression in order to establish and maintain lactation is of major importance to the mother. The present study was designed to evaluate four methods of milk expression, measuring the amount as well s the fat content of milk expressed by each method during a 10-min period. The four methods included the Egnell electric pump, the Loyd B pump, the Evenflo system, and manual expression. The electric pump enabled mothers to express significantly more milk with adequate fat content during the expression period than any of the other methods tested. No significant differences were found between the other three methods. The Egnell or similar electric pump may be a preferred method for milk expression for some mothers, particularly those anticipating a prolonged need for pumping.

PMID: 7094853 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Dodd V, Chalmers C. University of Alabama Medical Center, Birmingham, USA. Vdodd@aol.com

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the use of hydrogel dressings for the prevention and treatment of nipple soreness in lactating women as compared with the common intervention of lanolin ointment. The hypothesis was as follows: Participants using hydrogel dressings as a preventive measure for nipple soreness will experience greater pain relief and a lower rate of nipple wounds as compared with the control group. The secondary hypothesis was that the reduction of nipple soreness in the treatment group would produce a longer duration of breastfeeding as compared with the control group. DESIGN: A multicentered, prospective, randomized controlled clinical trial evaluating a sample of 106 lactating mothers.

SETTING: Study sites were the University of Alabama Medical Center at Birmingham (an inner-city teaching hospital) and Northeast Health System (a community hospital in Beverly, Massachusetts).

PARTICIPANTS: Participants were older than age 18, fluent in English, and had an operational telephone in the residence. Other inclusion criteria were singleton, vaginal deliveries; no prior breastfeeding experience; and written informed consent. INTERVENTIONS: Participants were randomized to either the lanolin ointment or the hydrogel dressings group and received instructions specific to their assignment. All participants received breastfeeding education provided by a board-certified lactation consultant.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: During the initial 12 study days, participants identified pain intensity using a numeric pain intensity scale and verbal descriptor scale. Subjective data were collected via self-reported skin assessments of the bilateral breasts, nipples, and areolae. Breastfeeding duration was established by a follow-up telephone call at 2 months.

RESULTS: The hydrogel dressings group had significantly greater reduction in pain score mean values at baseline, on study Day 10, and on study Day 12 in comparison to the control group. Participants using the hydrogel dressings discontinued treatment sooner than participants in the lanolin ointment group. The lanolin ointment group had eight breast infections, whereas the hydrogel dressings group had none. CONCLUSION: Hydrogel dressings are a safe, available treatment that provided more effective pain management for nipple soreness than the common intervention of lanolin ointment.

PMID: 12903698 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

SHARE THIS ARTICLE

Average: Select ratingPoorOkayGoodGreatAwesome

No votes yet

LIKE IT

Vote